Copenhagen, the capital of the smallest Scandinavian country, Denmark has over the years become associated with cutting edge design and architecture. This city whose skyline is peppered with several iconic and futuristic buildings including the 1960’s era glass tower that houses the SAS Radisson Royal Hotel was recently also featured in a listing of the Top50 European Cities of the Future.
Radisson SAS Royal Hotel Photo Credit:seier
To highlight and popularize its modern architecture the city of Copenhagen since 2006 has been annually hosting a festival known as the Copenhagen Architecture and Design Days. This festival which seeks to promote Copenhagen as an architecture destination has been conceptualized and created by Wonderful Copenhagen which is the official tourism organization of Copenhagen. This year the Copenhagen Architecture and Design Days will be held at various venues in Copenhagen from Wednesday the 2nd of September to Sunday the 6th of September.
This design festival will feature several interesting and innovative events some of which are :–
Official Image Photo Credit: Official press image
It’s a Small World at the Dansk Design Center
This exhibition will be held at the world famous Dansk Design Center from the 28th of August 2009 to the 31st of January 2010. The exhibition is a collaborative effort of the most eminent Danish design institutions namely the Dansk Design Center, Danish Crafts and the Danish Architecture Center. ‘It’s a small world’ will explore the world of Danish design, architecture and crafts and focus on several themes like future design practice, human scale and sustainability while challenging the traditional role of the designer. The exhibition seeks to showcase Denmark as an intensely creative society which is equipped with a politically conscious design environment. This exhibit which will kick off the architecture festival will also travel to museums in Europe and the USA.
The Danish Design Center Photo Credit :carstenkessler
JDS Out Of Office
Julien de Smedt Architects which is a world famous multidisciplinary architecture firm that is based in Copenhagen will be a major participant of the Copenhagen Architecture & Design Days festival. The firm will move its design office out of its location at Vesterbro out on to Gråbrødre Torv which is one of the busiest and most popular squares in Copenhagen. Here the firm will conduct creative workshops and activities for the entire duration of the festival. These events will give the general public a chance to interact with one of the most avant-garde design firms in the world.
Beer and Peculiar Architecture
All previous festivals have featured walking tours of the various architectural sites of Copenhagen and this time around the festival’s walking tour will focus on industrial monuments and the history of Danish beer making. This tour will be conducted in both Danish and English on two separate days of the festival. Details of these tours are available on the official website of Copenhagen Architecture and Design Days. These tours are don’t require enrollment but are limited to the first 40 people who show up at their starting point at Besøgscenteret which is the home to the Carlsberg Brewery that produces several Scandinavian beers.
Exhibit at the Danish Architecture Center Photo Credit:gcbb
Architecture to Go
This event will be held for the entire duration of the festivalf at the square that is located in front of the Danish Architecture Center. The exhibit will feature the open air temporary offices of seven large and small Danish design firms namely Krydsrum, ADEPT, Witraz, MAPT, PK3, Henning Larsen Architects and Vandkunsten. These temporary offices will be housed in containers and will aim highlight the theme of sustainability and green living. The general public and design students will be encouraged to interact and share ideas with these design firms at various workshops and events like a communal breakfast and a barbecue evening.
The famous Egg Chair Photo Credit:theshutterchick
If as a design enthusiast, you are planning to visit the festival then it is fitting that you should plan to stay at one of hotels in Copenhagen that are associated with Danish design and feature the work of renowned Danish artist Arne Jacobsen. Arne Jacobsen was a world famous Danish architect and designer who designed several landmark buildings not only in Copenhagen (the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel, the National Bank of Denmark) but in several other cities located around the world.
Arne Jacobsen was also well known for his furniture designs, especially his chairs. In fact his Giraffe and Pot Chairs were designed especially for the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel while his bright crimson Egg chairs can be seen in the lobby of another one of Copenhagen’s iconic city center hotels- the Square hotel.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 8:13 am and is filed under Europe, Festival. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 13th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
[...] Disover Cutting Edge Design At The Copenhagen Architecture and … [...]
August 25th, 2009 at 2:28 am
Most people if they ever heard of prominent design practitioners from the region are probably familiar with Eliel Saarinen and Alvar Aalto (although some may argue that Finland is not part of Scandinavia). But perhaps the best known building designed by a Dane resides outside of the country: the Sydney Opera House by Jørn Oberg Utzon.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Copenhagen is obviously looking to be a modern city with modern influences with their architecture. Denmark is home to so many awesome designers and they aren’t afraid to lead the charge into the future. I love Denmark designs in all things and I always look for their unique furniture designs.
December 11th, 2009 at 4:48 am
How Cleaning Your Grout Can Expedite the Sale of Your Home ?
January 3rd, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Well every blog owner deserve a little admiration. Nice post, grazie. Ciao da
January 15th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Nice to see Denmark celebrates and preserves this type of architecture.